JP4674495B2 - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article transfer device, and more particularly to an article transfer device capable of changing the direction of an article to be transferred by turning a loading platform.

As a conventional article transfer device, for example, an article transfer device provided in a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse is widely known.
The stacker crane includes a traveling carriage that travels on a traveling track, a mast erected on the traveling carriage, and a carriage that moves up and down along the mast, and the article transfer device referred to here corresponds to the carriage.
The article transfer device in the stacker crane includes a machine base that constitutes a part of the carriage, a slide fork that moves forward and backward on the machine base, and a forward and backward motor for moving the slide fork back and forth.
By operating the advancing / retreating motor and extending the slide fork horizontally, the fork can be inserted into the storage portion of the storage shelf, and the article can be transferred to the storage portion.

By the way, in the article transfer device, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, in addition to the forward and backward movement of the slide forks 54, 55, the article transfer device 50 provided with a turning mechanism for turning the slide forks 54, 55. It has been known.
This article transfer device 50 is provided in a transport vehicle 52 that travels on a rail 51, and the car body of the transport vehicle 52 is provided with a swivel base 53 that rotates horizontally, and the swivel base 53 includes a multistage slide fork 54, 55 is provided.
In the article transfer device 50, the turntable 53 can be rotated by the operation of the drive motor 56 for turning, and the direction of the article W on the slide fork 55 can be changed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

As another related art, for example, there is an article transfer device disclosed in Patent Document 2.
In this type of article transfer device, an articulated arm is provided on a machine base, and by operating a driving source provided at a joint portion of a plurality of arms, an article placed on the tip of the arm is operated. The direction is to be changed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-301475 JP 2004-91158 A

However, in the conventional technique described in Patent Document 1, since the swivel provided with the slide fork is swiveled, a drive source for turning the swivel is provided in addition to the drive source for moving the slide fork back and forth. There is a need.
Moreover, since it is necessary to provide the drive source for turning, the space for installing a drive source is needed, for example, there exists a problem that the height of an article transfer apparatus becomes high.
On the other hand, in the conventional technique described in Patent Document 2, an articulated arm is used, but there is a problem that a plurality of drive sources are unavoidable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is not to require a dedicated drive source for turning the loading platform, and is used for the advance / retreat unit using the advance / retreat operation of the advance / retreat unit. The object is to provide an article transfer device capable of turning a loading platform.

To achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention, a machine base including a pair of arm portions which are arranged parallel to each other, the advancing and retreating unit for advancing and retreating along the arm portion, provided in該進retreat unit and an article transfer device provided with a loading platform, wherein the arm portion is provided with a rack along the moving direction of the reciprocating unit, the reciprocating unit includes a pinion gear to said rack meshing, the transmission of the rotation of the pinion gear And a driven gear that is rotated by receiving, and the loading platform is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the advance / retreat unit, and is rotated by the rotation of the driven gear.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing the pinion gear that meshes with the rack of the arm portion, the pinion gear moves forward and backward in synchronization with the advance and retreat of the advance / retreat unit, and rotates while maintaining mesh with the rack.
The driven gear is rotated by receiving the rotation of the pinion gear, and the loading platform is turned by the rotation of the driven gear.
That is, the pinion gear rotates in accordance with the advance / retreat of the advance / retreat unit, and the platform is turned in response to the advance / retreat operation of the advance / retreat unit by the rotation of the driven gear that receives the transmission of the rotation of the pinion gear.
Therefore, a dedicated drive source for turning the cargo bed is not required.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer apparatus according to the first aspect, the cargo bed includes an internal gear, and the driven gear meshes with the internal gear.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the internal gear provided in the loading platform meshes with the driven gear, the loading platform is turned by the rotation of the driven gear.
By meshing the internal gear and the driven gear, the rotation of the driven gear can be transmitted to the cargo bed, and the limited space can be utilized effectively.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the first or second aspect, the driven gear can be switched between a meshing position for meshing with the pinion gear and a meshing releasing position for releasing the meshing.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the driven gear that is switched between the meshing position and the meshing release position meshes with the pinion gear at the meshing position, and the meshing with the pinion is released at the meshing release position. The platform can be turned and stopped.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the second aspect of the present invention, a clutch mechanism that switches between transmission of rotational force of the driven gear to the internal gear and release of transmission is provided.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even when the driven gear is engaged with the pinion gear, the forward / backward unit can be switched by switching the transmission of the rotational force to the internal gear of the driven gear by the clutch mechanism and the release of the transmission. The platform can be turned and stopped when moving forward and backward.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the third aspect, the rack is a pair of racks provided to face each other on the pair of arm portions, and the pinion gear is the one of the ones. A first pinion gear that meshes with a rack, and a second pinion gear that meshes with the other rack and rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation of the first pinion gear, and the driven gear includes the first pinion gear and the second pinion gear Engaging with at least one, the loading platform is turned by the rotation of either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear via the driven gear.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the driven gear is at least one of the first pinion gear meshed with one rack and the second pinion gear meshed with the other rack and rotated in a direction opposite to the rotation of the first pinion gear. Meshes with the pinion gear.
The loading platform is turned by the rotation of either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear via the driven gear.
When the loading platform is turned by the rotation of the second pinion gear via the driven gear, the turning direction of the loading platform is turned in the opposite direction from that when the loading platform is turned by the rotation of the first pinion gear.
Therefore, the turning direction of the loading platform can be changed when the advance / retreat unit moves back and forth.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the fifth aspect, the driven gear is a single gear that meshes with either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the single driven gear meshes with either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear, and the loading platform is either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear via the driven gear. It is turned by either rotation.
Therefore, the turning direction of the cargo bed can be changed using a single driven gear.

  According to the present invention, there is provided an article transfer device that does not require a dedicated drive source for turning the loading platform, and can turn the loading platform with respect to the advance / retreat unit by using the advance / retreat operation of the advance / retreat unit. Can do.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, the article transfer apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The article transfer apparatus of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is an example applied to a carriage provided in a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse.
An automatic warehouse 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a pair of storage shelves 11 having a large number of storage units 11a, a storage station 12 for receiving articles W, a delivery station 13 for delivering articles W, and a storage shelf 11. Are mainly composed of a stacker crane 16 that reciprocates along, a travel track 14 of the stacker crane 16, and an operation control panel 15 that gives an operation instruction to the stacker crane 16.

First, the storage shelf 11 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the storage shelf 11 of this embodiment is installed on the floor so as to sandwich the traveling track 14 of the stacker crane 16 laid on the floor.
The storage shelf 11 includes a large number of storage portions 11 a that are partitioned in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the storage shelf 11, and these storage portions 11 a face the traveling track 14.
In addition, a warehousing station 12 for warehousing is provided so as to face the front end portion in the longitudinal direction of one storage shelf 11 (left side in FIG. 1).
Further, a delivery station 13 for delivery is provided so as to face the front end of the other storage shelf 11, and the entry station 12 and the delivery station 13 are arranged parallel to each other with the travel track 14 in between. Yes.

Next, the stacker crane 16 will be described. The stacker crane 16 includes a traveling carriage 17, a mast 18, a carriage 22 including an article transfer device, and a machine-side control panel 21 as shown in FIG. It is configured.
The traveling carriage 17 is provided with a pair of masts 18 erected on the left and right sides, and is provided with a carriage 22 that can be raised and lowered between the masts 18.
Further, the traveling carriage 17 includes a plurality of wheels (not shown) that roll with respect to the traveling track 14 on the floor, and for traveling for reciprocating the traveling carriage 17 on the traveling track 14. A motor 19, a lifting / lowering motor 20 for raising and lowering the carriage 22, and a machine base side control panel 21 for controlling each device on the stacker crane 16 side are mounted.

  The stacker crane 16 is operated based on an entry / exit transfer instruction from a higher-level operation control device (not shown). Specifically, the operation control panel 15 that receives the input / output transfer instruction is the stacker crane 16. The stacker crane 16 is driven and controlled by the operation instruction of the machine-side control panel 21, and the article W is stored in the storage shelf 11 or stored in the storage shelf 11. The article W that is present is taken out.

Next, the carriage 22 as the article transfer device will be described with reference to FIGS.
2 is a side view of the carriage 22 viewed from the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 17, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the carriage 22, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the carriage 22 viewed from the storage shelf 11 side.
Carriage 22 includes a carriage base 23, a lower fork 24, the middle fork 26, the upper fork 28, the pivoting of the loading platform 29.
At the end of the lower fork 24, an advancing / retracting motor 25 is provided for advancing and retracting the middle fork 26 with respect to the lower fork 24 and advancing and retracting the upper fork 28 with respect to the middle fork 26.

Although not shown, a fork advance / retreat mechanism for converting the rotation of the advance / retreat motor 25 into a linear motion of the middle fork 26 and the upper fork 28 is provided. The fork advance / retreat mechanism of this embodiment hangs the chain and the chain. Sprocket is the main element.
The carriage base 23 is mainly composed of a pair of square members 23 a, and the longitudinal direction of the square members 23 a coincides with the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 17.
The carriage base 23 is connected to a lifting mechanism (not shown) and can be lifted and lowered via the lifting mechanism by driving the lifting motor 20.

A lower fork 24 is horizontally mounted on the carriage base 23. In this embodiment, a lower fork member 24 a parallel to each other is a main component of the lower fork 24, and the lower fork member 24 a is attached to the carriage base 23. It is fixed against.
On the lower fork 24, a middle fork 26 that is movable back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the lower fork 24 is provided.
The middle fork 26 includes a middle fork member 26a parallel to each other and a connecting member (not shown) that couples the middle fork member 26a to each other.

The middle fork member 26a referred to here corresponds to a pair of arm portions as the article transfer device, and the middle fork 26 corresponds to a machine base including the pair of arm portions.
In the middle fork member 26a, racks 27 are formed on inner surfaces facing each other along the longitudinal direction of the middle fork member 26a.
These racks 27 are one of the elements for turning the loading platform 29 according to the advancement and retreat of the upper fork 28 with respect to the middle fork 26.

On the middle fork 26, an upper fork 28 is provided that can move forward and backward in the longitudinal direction of the middle fork 26.
The upper fork 28 includes an upper fork member 28a parallel to each other, and the upper fork member 28a is connected to each other by a connecting member 28b near the center.
Here, the upper fork 28 corresponds to an advance / retreat unit in the article transfer apparatus.
That is, it can be said that the advance / retreat unit in this embodiment is composed of the upper fork member 28a and the connecting member 28b.
The connecting member 28b is provided with a loading platform 29 so as to be pivotable. In other words, the loading platform 29 is pivotable with respect to the upper fork 28.
The loading platform 29 is formed with an internal gear 30 facing downward, and this internal gear 30 is one of the elements for turning the loading platform 29 according to the advancement and retraction of the upper fork 28 with respect to the middle fork 26.
3 and FIG. 6, “A” written on the upper surface of the loading platform 29 is a symbol for convenience in order to make it easier to grasp the turning of the loading platform 29.

Next, in addition to the rack 27 and the internal gear 30, elements for turning the loading platform 29 will be described.
Although it has already been described that the rack 27 is formed on the middle fork member 26a, in this embodiment, the rack 27 is provided on the arm unit, and the rack 27 is provided on each of the pair of arm units as a rack along the advance / retreat direction of the advance / retreat unit. They are provided facing each other.
A first pinion gear 31 and a second pinion gear 32 that mesh with the respective racks 27 are pivotally supported by the connecting member 28b.
In this embodiment, the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32 correspond to elements constituting a pinion that meshes with the rack of the arm portion, and it can be said that the advance / retreat unit includes the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32.
In this embodiment, the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32 are in meshing relation with each other.
Therefore, the rack 27 may be provided only on one arm portion, and the rotational force of the first pinion gear 31 meshing with the rack 27 may be transmitted to the second pinion gear 32. In this case, the rack 27 is connected to one arm. The advantage that only needs to be provided in the part is recognized.
When the upper fork 28 is advanced and retracted with respect to the middle fork 26, the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32 are rolled by meshing with the rack 27, but in the opposite direction according to the advance / retreat distance of the upper fork 28 It is supposed to rotate.
In other words, the second pinion gear 32 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation of the first pinion gear 31.
The advancing / retreating unit is provided with a driven gear 33 that can mesh with either the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32.

The driven gear 33 is a single gear that is pivotally supported by the connecting member 28b. In this embodiment, the meshing position with the first pinion gear 31 (hereinafter referred to as “first meshing position”) and the second pinion gear are used. 32 and a gear displaceable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the connecting member 28b so as to be switched to a meshing release position that is not meshed with any gear (hereinafter referred to as “second meshing position”). It has become.
In this embodiment, for the vertical displacement of the driven gear 33, has been achieved by vertical displacement means for displacing the driven gear 33 in the vertical direction, the air cylinder above under displacement of means connected to the driven gear 33 ( (Not shown).
That is, the vertical displacement means lowers the driven gear 33 downward to the meshing release position from the first meshing position or the second meshing position, or raises the driven gear 33 upwards to the first meshing position or the first meshing position. It has a function of displacing the driven gear 33 in the vertical direction so as to switch to the two meshing position.
On the other hand, the horizontal displacement of the driven gear 33 is realized by a guide groove 34 formed in the connecting member 28b and horizontal displacement means for displacing the driven gear 33 in the horizontal direction.
Specifically, the guide groove 34 is formed in the connecting member 28b so that the driven gear 33 is switched along the internal gear 30 to the first meshing position, the mesh release position, and the second meshing position.
Then, horizontal displacement means using a drive motor (not shown) capable of forward and reverse rotation is connected to the driven gear 33 so as to displace the drive motor in the horizontal direction.
That is, the left-right displacement means has a function of displacing the driven gear 33 in the horizontal direction along the guide groove 34 so as to displace the driven gear 33 to a position facing the first meshing position or the second meshing position.
In this embodiment, the driven gear moving means is constituted by the vertical displacement means and the horizontal displacement means.

As shown in FIG. 4, the driven gear 33 is sufficiently dimensioned in the vertical direction. The lower portion of the driven gear 33 can be engaged with the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32. The vicinity of the upper portion meshes with the internal gear 30 in the loading platform 29.
The driven gear 33 has a different meshing position with respect to the internal gear 30 according to the first meshing position and the second meshing position, and the meshing with the internal gear 30 is released at the meshing release position.
Accordingly, when the driven gear 33 is rotated in a state of meshing with the internal gear 30, the loading platform 29 is turned according to the rotation of the driven gear 33.

Next, article transfer by the carriage 22 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
It is assumed that the forks 26 and 28 that can advance and retreat in the carriage 22 are positioned in the vicinity of the center of the carriage 22 in advance, and the article W is mounted on the loading platform 29 here.
For example, when the articles W are stored in the storage shelf 11, the stacker crane 16 is moved or the carriage 22 is moved up and down as necessary so that the carriage 22 faces the storage portion 11 a to be stored.
After the carriage 22 faces the accommodating portion 11a to be accommodated, the forward / backward motor 25 is driven to advance the middle fork 26 and the upper fork 28 toward the accommodating portion 11a.
In this embodiment, the upper fork 28 moves forward so that the middle fork 26 is driven forward by the fork advance / retreat mechanism.

As the upper fork 28 moves forward, the first pinion gear 31 that meshes with the rack 27 rotates clockwise as shown in FIG. 5A, and the second pinion gear 32 that meshes with the rack 27 rotates counterclockwise. Rotate.
At this time, if the driven gear 33 is meshed with the first pinion gear 31, the driven gear 33 rotates counterclockwise.
Due to the counterclockwise rotation of the driven gear 33, the loading platform 29 having the internal gear 30 also rotates counterclockwise.
That is, when the driven gear 33 is positioned at the first meshing position and the upper fork 28 moves forward, the loading platform 29 is turned counterclockwise.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, when the middle fork 26 and the upper fork 28 are moved forward toward the accommodating portion 11a to the maximum, the load carrier 29 is compared with the case where the load carrier 29 is positioned on the carriage 22 side. It will be in the state which turned 180 degree | times.
When the article W is stored in the storage portion 11a in this state and the middle fork 26 and the upper fork 28 are retracted, the loading platform 29 is rotated clockwise as the upper fork 28 is retracted, and finally 180 degrees. To return to the carriage base 23 side which is the original position.

In addition, although the case where the articles | goods W were accommodated in the accommodating part 11 (left side of the carriage 22 in FIG.2 and FIG.6) of one storage shelf 11 was demonstrated, the accommodating part 11a (carriage in FIG. 2) of the other storage shelf 11 was demonstrated. even when accommodating an article W 22 to the right), the loading platform 29 is making a turn of 180 degrees.
However, when the driven gear 33 is located at the first meshing position, the turning direction of the loading platform 29 when the forks 26 and 28 are advanced to the other accommodating portion 11a is clockwise.

In this embodiment, the swivel direction of the loading platform 29 can be changed as necessary by switching the driven gear 33 between the first meshing position and the second meshing position using the driven gear moving means. .
That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, by positioning the driven gear 33 at the second meshing position, the turning direction of the loading platform 29 is completely opposite to the case where the driven gear 33 is positioned at the first meshing position. .
Further, the driven gear 33 is positioned at the mesh release position by the vertical displacement means so that the driven gear 33 is not meshed with either the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32 and the loading platform 29 is not turned. You can also.

Furthermore, when the upper fork 28 advances and retreats, the driven gear 33 is brought to the mesh release position, or the desired turn is brought to the first mesh position or the second mesh position from the mesh release position. It is possible to stop the turning of the loading platform 29 at an angle, or to start the turning of the loading platform 29 while the forks 26 and 28 advance and retreat.
For example, when it is desired to change the direction of the article W only by 90 degrees when the forks 26 and 28 are moved forward at maximum, this can be realized by using the combination of the meshing release position of the driven gear 33 and each meshing position as described above. .

The carriage 22 according to this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32 are rotated according to the forward / backward movement of the upper fork 28 while maintaining meshing with the rack 27, and are at least one of the first pinion gear 31 and the second pinion gear 32. Since the meshing driven gear 33 is rotated, the loading platform 29 can be turned through the rotation of the driven gear 33. The pinion gears 31 and 32 and the driven gear 33 rotate with the advance and retreat of the upper fork 28, and can turn the loading platform 29 in response to the advance and retreat operation of the upper fork 28. A dedicated drive source for turning the loading platform 29 is provided. do not need.
(2) Since a dedicated drive source for turning the loading platform 29 is not required, for example, it is not necessary to provide a space for the drive source in the lower portion of the carriage 22, and the minimum transfer height of the carriage 22 is reduced. Is possible.

(3) Since the loading platform 29 can be swung in response to the advance / retreat operation of the upper fork 28, the cycle time of the article transfer is shortened.
(4) By meshing the internal gear 30 and the driven gear 33, the rotation of the driven gear 33 can be directly transmitted to the loading platform 29, and the limited space can be utilized effectively.

(5) When the forks 26 and 28 are advanced and retracted, by switching the driven gear 33 to the meshing position or the meshing release position, the loading platform 29 can be turned or the loading platform 29 can be prevented from turning. An arbitrary turning angle with respect to the loading platform 29 can be realized by engaging or releasing the driven gear 33 and the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32 while the forks 26 and 28 advance and retreat.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a carriage as an article transfer device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing only the main part of the carriage according to this embodiment.
In this embodiment, the driven gear 44 is divided into upper and lower parts of the upper gear member 45 and the lower gear member 46 so that the transmission and release of the rotational force can be switched between the upper gear member 45 and the lower gear member 46. It has.
Therefore, in this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, a part of the reference numerals used in the first embodiment described above is used in common, the description of the common configuration is omitted, and the description of the first embodiment is performed. Is used.

The configurations of the forks 26 and 28, the connecting member 28b, the first pinion gear 31, the second pinion gear 32, and the internal gear 30 in the carriage of this embodiment are basically the same as those of the previous embodiment.
Referring to the driven gear 44, as shown in FIG. 7, the driven gear 44 includes two gear members, one is an upper gear member 45 facing the internal gear 30, and the other is an upper gear member. 45 is a lower gear member 46 disposed below 45.
The upper gear member 45 and the lower gear member 46 are coaxial, and the clutch mechanism 41 is interposed between the lower shaft 45 a of the upper gear member 45 and the upper shaft 46 a of the lower gear member 46.
The clutch mechanism 41 has a function of transmitting the rotation of the lower gear member 46 engaged with the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32 to the upper gear member 45 and releasing the transmission. Switching is performed by electrical control.

Therefore, when the rotation is transmitted by the clutch mechanism 41, the rotation of the lower gear member 46 that receives the rotation of the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32 is transmitted to the upper gear member 45 and reflected in the turning operation of the loading platform 29. Is done.
Further, when the rotation is not transmitted by the clutch mechanism 41, the rotation of the lower gear member 46 that receives the rotation of the first pinion gear 31 or the second pinion gear 32 remains, and the upper gear member 45 does not rotate, There is no rotation.
Note that the start and stop of the turning of the loading platform 29 can be freely controlled by switching the clutch mechanism 41 while the upper fork 28 advances and retreats.

  According to this embodiment, in addition to the effects (1) to (5) of the previous embodiment, the loading platform 29 can be turned without setting the mesh release position on the driven gear 44 or displacing the driven gear 44. Can be controlled.

The present invention is not limited to the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the following modifications can be made. Also good.
In the first and second embodiments described above, an example in which the article transfer device is applied to a carriage provided in a stacker crane has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to a stacker crane. The present invention may be applied to a loading apparatus or a fixed article transfer apparatus that can transfer an article to a carriage or the like, and includes at least an advancing / retreating unit and a loading platform that can move forward and backward with respect to the machine base It can be applied to general article transfer devices.
In the first and second embodiments described above, a slide-type fork having upper, middle, and lower forks is used. However, the machine base and the advancing / retreating unit are not necessarily specified as a fork. As long as the base unit includes a pair of arm portions arranged in parallel to each other and moves forward and backward along the arm portion, the shape and form thereof are not particularly limited .

It is a perspective view showing an outline of an automatic warehouse concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a side view which shows the principal part of the carriage which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the principal part of the carriage which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a front view which shows the principal part of the carriage which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a principal part top view which shows each pinion gear and internal gear which concern on 1st Embodiment. It is action | operation explanatory drawing of the carriage which shows turning of the loading platform concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the principal part of the carriage which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a principal part side view which shows the conventional article transfer apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automatic warehouse 11 Storage shelf 14 Traveling track 16 Stacker crane 22, 40 Carriage 24 Lower fork 26 Middle fork 27 Rack 28 Upper fork 28b Connecting member 29 Car bed 30 Internal gear 31 First pinion gear 32 Second pinion gears 33, 44 Driven gear 34 Guide Groove 41 Clutch mechanism 45 Upper gear member 46 Lower gear member

Claims (6)

An article transfer apparatus comprising: a machine base including a pair of arm portions arranged in parallel to each other; an advance / retreat unit that advances / retreats along the arm portion; and a loading platform provided in the advance / retreat unit ,
The arm portion includes a rack along the advancing / retreating direction of the advancing / retreating unit,
The advance / retreat unit includes a pinion gear that meshes with the rack, and a driven gear that is rotated by transmission of rotation of the pinion gear,
The article transfer device, wherein the loading platform is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the advance / retreat unit, and is rotated by rotation of the driven gear.   2. The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the loading platform includes an internal gear, and the driven gear meshes with the internal gear.   3. The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the driven gear can be switched between a meshing position for meshing with the pinion gear and a meshing release position for releasing the meshing.   3. The article transfer device according to claim 2, further comprising a clutch mechanism that switches between transmission and release of rotational force of the driven gear to the internal gear. The racks are a pair of racks provided to face each other on the pair of arm portions,
The pinion gear includes a first pinion gear meshing with one of the racks;
A second pinion gear that meshes with the other rack and rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation of the first pinion gear;
The driven gear meshes with at least one of the first pinion gear and the second pinion gear, and the loading platform is turned by rotation of either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear via the driven gear. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   6. The article transfer device according to claim 5, wherein the driven gear is a single gear that meshes with either the first pinion gear or the second pinion gear.

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